On a first pass with no study 40% is very good.

The problem with these tests is that a bunch of the questions are simply things that must be memorized....frequency allocations, FCC rules etc. A bunch is practical electrical knowledge and safety. It is pretty hard to score high without some study, so I think you did great.

There are 300 questions in the pool....many are slight variations of each other, so if you take the test say 5-6 times you will probably start scoring high enough to almost pass the test for sure.

Many radio groups offer up study training....hard cramming followed by the test and that works great. I took my test in the days before the internet and just read the book "Now Your Talking" and studied the question pool. Passed the test easily....I had to do 5WPM morse code and that I passed but just barely.

Now with no code and internet tests anyone should be able to get their license in just a few hours of work.

I never got my ham license for long range communications, but did so only for local emergency use. I have never found a more useful skill.

My wife got licensed a few years ago and now we can communicate from my workplace to hers via simplex or repeater. We both volunteer in a local RACES group and serve as EOC radio operators in our community. Rewarding, useful, adds a measure of certaintly to our communications with each other, and serves the community. All good.

40%....take it again I bet you score higher.

For ham tests also try Ham .

Lee

Not braggin' or nothin' but I just got 91.4% on the first try. Combination of Sparky knowledge, CAP radio training 20 years ago and general test taking strategy. Where do I sign up?

Good one....check out the ARRL link I posted above to find a local test. You can likely have your license after the weekend.

The following page will give you the locations of tests given in your area by the ARRL - there are other VEC organizations, but

http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/examsearch.phtml

You go down when they are running a test, pay your test fee (I think it's up to $17 now). You sit down and take the test in from of 3 "Volunteer Examiners" - when you are done (the test is untimed), they will collect your test, and grade it right there. Either way, they will let you know if you passed or failed. If you passed, they send the results off to the FCC, and in a few days to a week or two, if you follow the list of "New and updated licenses" either on the FCC web site, or one of the ham sites that tracks it, you will see your name, and your call sign. As soon as the call sign is publishe, you may get on the air - a couple of days later, you'll get your license in the mail

The fun part? Let's assume you passed. For no additional money, you may then sit your "general" and if you pass that, your "extra"

If you are upgrading, the process is similar, but you bring your existing license with you. If you pass, you may start using your new priviliges right away, but you add a /AG or /AE at the end of your call, which tells the listener "hey, even though the database has not been updated yet, I passed" - and you will probably get a big "congrats" over the air

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I took advantage of the ARRL link so thoughtfully provided by Schwert in the post above and found a local VEC test that's taking place tomorrow. With any luck, I'll pass and can go ahead and finish installing a radio in my car.

Thanks for the link, it was just the kick in the pants I needed to get the test taken care of.

John E

P.S. Technician's license test is a whopping 14 bucks...

Actually the testing session, not each test, is ~$14, you can take all three levels, Technician, General and Extra in the same session as long as you keep passing. I have a radio background, CAP as a teen, operator and technician in the military, so passed (with a few hours study to get HAM regs, frequencies, etc. the Technician and General in the same $14 session. Took the Extra, without studying for it, and missed passing by 3 questions. A few more hours of study, on the commute to work, and the next month passed the Extra.

I don't have to learn code, but can and will. There are a lot of HAMs out there talking on CW (carrier wave).

If all you need is local and emergency communication, a Technician license is fine. Even a Technician license opens up a broad world of communications. Even satellite with a 5 watt hand-held (HT), the right antenna and some readily available information on when and what direction to look for the bird.

Having an HT in my EDC has been very useful. Catch the NOAA broadcasts. I've monitored Skywarn during severe weather warnings and knew to leave work and get home ahead of the weather. I've used it to listen to the chatter on CB channel 19 and take an alternate route ahead of traffic tie-up on rural highways. And just for entertainment on a long commute.

An Amateur Radio band, broad-band receiver, HT is just a very useful piece of EDC, every-day-use, gear. And most have a number of emergency/survival features like dedicate NOAA channels, emergency/home channel at the push of a button, ability to connect to APRS (transmit location data in conjunction with a GPS). Mine has a feature that maintains contact with similarly equipped stations and alerts if you go out of range....

Doug
AC8BY

Good luck John. Glad the link could motivate you to the next step. Already having a radio eliminates the next big hurdle. Have fun.

I called a local shop, Austin if you think that is local. They give the test and have radios in stock. I'm going to go down there ne4xt week and see what I can get.

Years ago I considered getting a Yaesu VX-5, but put it off when we were faced with all sorts of communications security requirements and were issued encrypted radios and got "special" cellphones. Everything else was banned.

After reading these informative posts, I'm re-considering getting a Yaesu VX-7R. At least I can have my own department's and the other local local agencies I deal with give me consent to have their channels programmed in, I think.

Is that model still the best choice? Is there a disposable battery option available? What accessories would you recommend? I will work on getting a Technician license, at least, if I decide to buy. Any and all advice welcomed. Thank you.

Jeff